In electrophotography, an organophotoreceptor in the form of a plate, disk, sheet, belt, drum or the like having an electrically insulating photoconductive element on an electrically conductive substrate is imaged by first uniformly electrostatically charging the surface of the photoconductive layer, and then exposing the charged surface to a pattern of light. The light exposure selectively dissipates the charge in the illuminated areas where light strikes the surface, thereby forming a pattern of charged and uncharged areas, referred to as a latent image. A liquid or dry toner is then provided in the vicinity of the latent image, and toner droplets or particles deposit in the vicinity of either the charged or uncharged areas to create a toned image on the surface of the photoconductive layer. The resulting toned image can be transferred to a suitable ultimate or intermediate receiving surface, such as paper, or the photoconductive layer can operate as an ultimate receptor for the image. The imaging process can be repeated many times to complete a single image, for example, by overlaying images of distinct color components or effect shadow images, such as overlaying images of distinct colors to form a full color final image, and/or to reproduce additional images.
Both single layer and multilayer photoconductive elements have been used. In single layer embodiments, a charge transport material and charge generating material are combined with a polymeric binder and then deposited on the electrically conductive substrate. In multilayer embodiments, the charge transport material and charge generating material are present in the element in separate layers, each of which can optionally be combined with a polymeric binder, deposited on the electrically conductive substrate. Two arrangements are possible for a two-layer photoconductive element. In one two-layer arrangement (the “dual layer” arrangement), the charge-generating layer is deposited on the electrically conductive substrate and the charge transport layer is deposited on top of the charge generating layer. In an alternate two-layer arrangement (the “inverted dual layer” arrangement), the order of the charge transport layer and charge generating layer is reversed.
In both the single and multilayer photoconductive elements, the purpose of the charge generating material is to generate charge carriers (i.e., holes and/or electrons) upon exposure to light. The purpose of the charge transport material is to accept at least one type of these charge carriers and transport them through the charge transport layer in order to facilitate discharge of a surface charge on the photoconductive element. The charge transport material can be a charge transport compound, an electron transport compound, or a combination of both. When a charge transport compound is used, the charge transport compound accepts the hole carriers and transports them through the layer with the charge transport compound. When an electron transport compound is used, the electron transport compound accepts the electron carriers and transports them through the layer with the electron transport compound.
Organophotoreceptors may be used for both dry and liquid electrophotography. There are many differences between dry and liquid electrophotography. In particular, a dry toner is used in dry electrophotography, whereas a liquid toner is used in liquid electrophotography. A potential advantage of liquid electrophotography is that it can provide a higher resolution and thus sharper images than dry electrophotography because liquid toner particles can be much smaller than dry toner particles. As a result of their smaller size, liquid toners are able to provide images of higher optical density than dry toners.
In both dry and liquid electrophotography, the charge transport material used for the organophotoreceptor should be compatible with the polymeric binder in the photoconductive element. The desirability of selecting a compatible polymer binder places a constraint on choosing a suitable polymeric binder for a particular charge transport material. If the charge transport material is not compatible with the polymeric binder, the charge transport material may phase-separate or crystallize in the polymeric binder matrix, or will diffuse onto the surface of the layer containing the charge transport material. If such incompatibility occurs, the organophotoreceptor may cease to transport charges.
Furthermore, liquid electrophotography faces an additional complication. In particular, the organophotoreceptor for liquid electrophotography is in contact with the liquid carrier of a liquid toner as the liquid evaporates and/or is transferred to a receiving surface. As a result, the charge transport material in the photoconductive element may be removed through extraction by the liquid carrier. Over a long period of operation, the amount of the charge transport material removed by extraction may be significant and, therefore, detrimental to the performance of the organophotoreceptor.